Lord of the Flies

Review-A-Day

"Beyond the many biblical allusions and its searing parable of the folly of being human, Lord of the Flies is simply a cracking good adventure story....While the prose remains fresh and furious, with a nearly breakneck pace that sends the reader hurtling through its pages, Golding's theme of society's defects stemming from the nature of mankind is nothing less than timeless." Chris Bolton, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Originally published in 1954, William Golding's Lord of the Flies is one of the most disturbing and celebrated novels of modern times.

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. At first they revel in the freedom and celebrate the absence of grown-ups. Soon though, as the boys' fragile sense of order begins to collapse, their fears start to take on a sinister, primitive significance. Suddenly, the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories seems a long way away. The boys are faced with a more pressing reality  survival  and the appearance of a terrifying beast who haunts their dreams.

From Our Staff:

In this bleak tale of a community gone awry, a group of schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island. The untenable situation soon devolves into chaos and horror. The ending is surprising and satisfying. Golding's creepy story is amazing!Recommended by our staff at Powells.com

Review:

"The most influential novel...since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye." Time

Review:

"Lord of the Flies [is my selection for The Book That Changed My Life] because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is to do a lot of it." Stephen King, for the National Book Foundation, The Book That Changed My Life

Review:

"[T]his brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return (in a few weeks) to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must apprach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Like any orthodox moralist Golding insists that Man is a fallen creature, but he refuses to hypostatize Evil or to locate it in a dimension of its own. On the contrary Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, is Roger and Jack and you and I, ready to declare himself as soon as we permit him to." John Peter, Kenyon Review

Review:

"[S]parely and elegantly written....Lord of the Flies is a grim anti-pastoral in which adults are disguised as children who replicate the worst of their elders' heritage of ignorance, violence, and warfare." Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books

Synopsis:

Before The Hunger Games there was Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.

Synopsis:

Before The Hunger Games there was Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.

William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories—and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.

"Lord of the Flies is one of my favorite books. That was a big influence on me as a teenager, I still read it every couple of years."

—Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games

"As exciting, relevant, and thought-provoking now as it was when Golding published it in 1954."

—Stephen King

Synopsis:

The classic tale of a group of English school boys who are left stranded on an unpopulated island, and who must confront not only the defects of their society but the defects of their own natures.

About the Author

Born in Cornwall, England, in 1911 and educated at Oxford University, William Gerald Golding's first book, Poems, was published in 1935. Following a stint in the Royal Navy and other diversions during and after World War II, Golding wrote Lord of the Flies while teaching school. This was the first of several novels including Pincher Martin, Free Fall, and The Inheritors and a play, The Brass Butterfly, which led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 5 comments:

Kristina Mageau, August 12, 2012 (view all comments by Kristina Mageau)
The story that is frequently alluded to in many aspects of pop culture, the boys are full of complexity here. Reading this made me think about what humans are capable of, when they're faced with new and disastrous circumstances.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(7 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)

ladymacbech, December 23, 2011 (view all comments by ladymacbech)
This book made my stomach churn the first time I read it in 1959, again in the'70's, and the last time I picked it up 10 years ago. It's very good, but it allows a more distinct violent version, than the youth gangs of today who might as well have been dropped from a high place, or maybe that's what's become of us. I do hope not. Gangs and cliques have always been around, and in sometimes more subtle ways, they were and still are very difficult. However, take a look at Washington and the current Congress to see it in simple action.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(3 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)

Michael Moy, June 29, 2010 (view all comments by Michael Moy)
If you, unlike me, happened to live in a time, or grow up in school district, or had that one really good teacher/ mentor and read this book as required reading, you probably already know how good it is. And it is good in every way a book can be good. You also already know how essential it is. It tells truths in ways only fiction can. But, if you were unlucky enough to miss this book as a littlun as I did, you must start reading it today. And actually, if you have read it, you should probably read it again.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(4 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)

"Review A Day"
by Chris Bolton, Powells.com,
"Beyond the many biblical allusions and its searing parable of the folly of being human, Lord of the Flies is simply a cracking good adventure story....While the prose remains fresh and furious, with a nearly breakneck pace that sends the reader hurtling through its pages, Golding's theme of society's defects stemming from the nature of mankind is nothing less than timeless." (read the entire Powells.com review)

"Review"
by Time,
"The most influential novel...since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye."

"Review"
by Stephen King, for the National Book Foundation, The Book That Changed My Life,
"Lord of the Flies [is my selection for The Book That Changed My Life] because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is to do a lot of it."

"Review"
by The New York Times Book Review,
"[T]his brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return (in a few weeks) to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must apprach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is."

"Review"
by John Peter, Kenyon Review,
"Like any orthodox moralist Golding insists that Man is a fallen creature, but he refuses to hypostatize Evil or to locate it in a dimension of its own. On the contrary Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, is Roger and Jack and you and I, ready to declare himself as soon as we permit him to."

"Review"
by Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books,
"[S]parely and elegantly written....Lord of the Flies is a grim anti-pastoral in which adults are disguised as children who replicate the worst of their elders' heritage of ignorance, violence, and warfare."

"Synopsis"
by Penguin,
Before The Hunger Games there was Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.

"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,

Before The Hunger Games there was Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.

William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories—and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.

"Lord of the Flies is one of my favorite books. That was a big influence on me as a teenager, I still read it every couple of years."

—Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games

"As exciting, relevant, and thought-provoking now as it was when Golding published it in 1954."

—Stephen King

"Synopsis"
by Libri,
The classic tale of a group of English school boys who are left stranded on an unpopulated island, and who must confront not only the defects of their society but the defects of their own natures.

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